EXCLUSIVE: Safaricom’s Plan To Turnaround 17 Million SMEs In Kenya

There are approximately 17 million registered SMEs in Kenya which account for about half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employ an estimated 85% of Kenya’s workforce which contribute to about 45% of the GDP.

In a nutshell, the employment rate to GDP contribution ratio (85:45) is not adding up. Something is wrong somewhere and Safaricom believes it can fix the problem. They believe they have the solution which is Fibre for business.

However, despite the news, how many of you actually understand what Fiber for business by Safaricom means? We took it upon ourselves to meet Safaricom Head of enterprise sales-SME and regional operations Agnes Gathaiya for an in-depth look on what the fibre for business is about and its impact on the society.

Embracing ICT

“ We strongly believe that adoption of ICT Solutions can enable SMEs become more efficient and creates more opportunities for them by plugging revenue leakages, increasing revenue opportunities through online presence or by providing better insight by way of data relating to their customers “ she begins

“Fibre is just a tool, what you do with it is what matters”

In a recent survey carried out by Safaricom, with over 180,000 SMEs, it was revealed that Lack of Capital, Cash flow management and inability to market products and services are some of the key challenges faced by SMEs in Kenya. Despite the continued technology advancements in the country most of them are still struggling to solve some of this issue.

Fibre for Business

Thika was the 9th town to be connected to the Safaricom Fibre for business proposition after Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Malindi, Machakos, Nanyuki and Kakamega. Our sources think that Meru is the next town.

According to Ms. Gathaiya, to drive expansion, increase productivity and turnaround the 17 million registered SMEs and those coming up there is need to connect them to a high speed reliable internet at an affordable price of as low as KES 5,000 per month. The Fiber For Business comes in 4 affordable internet packages.

Table Showing different packages of the Safaricom Fibre For Business

Once connected, the fibre technology will then provide unlimited bandwidth internet renewable every month, in addition to a landline telephone service.

With Fibre for business, Safaricom believes that you as an SME will be able to deliver your products or services on time, manage your work from any point of the world through the pre-installed IP surveillance cameras in your business as long as there is internet connection wherever you are. This also boosts the security within your company.

In addition to the above, you will be able to receive Real time information on any sales made.

Getting Connected

“Fibre is just a tool, what you do with it is what matter” adds the Head of SMEs

For you to be connected to the Safaricom Fibre for business all you need is to be in a multi-tenancy building that is fibre ready and the Safaricom team will come to connect you.

It is good to note that the internet from this connection is on full capacity and for internal use only. No outsiders are allowed to use it due to security reasons and ofcourse for you to get value of what you consume.

Once you purchase, you will be given a access to a portal where you can always login and ask for your capacity report either on a monthly or weekly basis, just to have a look at how you have been consuming the internet.This is for transparency purpose.

Easy50 Data bundles

For those who would wish that their homes to be connected to the internet, Safaricom has also introduce Easy 50 bundles which doubles up as their out of home solutions. With Easy 50, you will get 50GB worth of bundles at KES 6,000 per month, which allows upto 10 users to connect to it.

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